IBM Global Business Services, the professional services arm of Armonk, NY-based technology giant IBM, has rebranded to “IBM Consulting.”
IBM launched its management consulting division in 1991, with service lines in business transformation and IT strategy consulting. As its management consulting work became more entangled with technology delivery, the organization became known as IBM Global Business Services.
The division greatly expanded its depth with the 2002 acquisition of PwC Consulting, the management consulting and technology services division of accounting firm PwC that was sold off in the wake of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The deal, which added 30,000 consultants in 52 countries, nearly doubled the size of IBM Global Business Services.
The division today has more than 140,000 consultants and provides services in digital strategy & interactive, cloud application innovation, and cognitive process transformation new technology.
IBM also has its Global Technology Services division, which recently spun off its managed infrastructure unit as a public company titled Kyndryl.
As part of Big Blue’s wider realignment and rebranding efforts, the firm has changed the name of its Global Business Services division to IBM Consulting.
“We wanted to make sure that everyone understood our name,” Paul Papas, global managing partner of business transformation services at IBM Consulting, told Adweek. “Nice, simple, concise, and to the point. The exact space that we serve.”
The brand’s new tagline is “Accelerate Together,” which Mark Foster, SVP, says is a reflection of the division’s “commitment to deliver rapid business value while acting as a truly collaborative partner.”
IBM Consulting will also simplify its offerings to strategy, experience, technology, and operations to make its capabilities easier for clients to navigate and engage with.
“We are aligning our brand and strategy focus with the IBM strategy of hybrid cloud, AI and the power of the ecosystem,” Foster added. “We will drive real innovation through the application of technology to create ever more intelligent workflows and deeply engage with the application modernization programs that every enterprise must deliver in a world of hybrid cloud environments.”
IBM has been positioning itself as a leader in hybrid cloud services and consulting. The firm added software firm Red Hat in 2019 for $34 billion and in July 2021 acquired Bluetab, a Spanish data and hybrid cloud consultancy with more than 700 employees.
